Deacons are grievers and lamenters, because they move among people who grieve and lament. However, they do not grieve and lament without hope, and the fact of their presence there as deacons of the Church is a tangible sign of a hope that is not simplistic but has its roots in the fertile soil of the Paschal mystery, that out of death God brings life. To do this requires that we are not identical with the marginalized, but are identified with them.
